Hundreds of poets writing in Malayalam and poetry lovers were in a state of disbelief on Tuesday, when they learned that the chief suspect in the case related to alleged human sacrifice of two women was a poet. He was known to them as a Facebook friend or a mutual – a writer of haikus. Others knew him as the former branch member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Elanthoor, who at times shared posts and posters supportive of the ideology.
Bhagaval Singh, a 67-year-old man, who along with his wife Laila were arrested over suspected human sacrifice, was not a well-known writer, but he was popular among a section of poets on Facebook where he published his poems. Soon after the news of his arrest was flashed on channels many poets came on FB expressing horror that the person was known to them or their social media friends. Within a few hours, hundreds of people had unfriended him on FB.
He was also known to many of them as the administrator of a literary group called Malayala Sahitya Lokam, with 29,000 members. The group was created in 2014 and had a change of name in 2016. “I was shocked to see that though I was not friends with him on FB, there were many mutual friends,’ said Jayashankar Arackal, a poet. A poster shared by Bhagaval Singh on the group was a promo for a master class on haiku to be delivered by him February 18, 2022.
His most recent post on his Facebook wall was a short haiku-like poem. The four-day old post now has several abusive comments below. According to his Facebook bio, Bhagaval Singh was born in 1955 and studied at St Thomas College, Kozhencherry and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Higher Secondary School, Karamveli. A traditional healer known for ayurvedic massage, he was a known figure in Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta, where he lived.
Residents near his home said Bhagaval Singh was a member of the CPI(M) and had accompanied party workers during a recent fund collection drive. But they were not sure whether he held any official position in the party. He was a member of Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), a CPI(M) frontal organisation for farmers, according to reports. He was quite active in cultural and literary activities locally and also on Facebook.
Police, who were investigating complaints about two women who had gone missing from Kalady and Kadavanthaara in Ernakulam, arrested Bhagaval Singh and Laila after their probe revealed his links to the case. According to police, they suspect that the bodies of women after being murdered were cut into pieces and buried in a plot. One of the bodies was exhumed on Tuesday.